I Want to Teach Others to Spend Less and Save More

When it comes to living cheap err… frugal, there are millions of ways to spend less and save money. Me personally, I like to combine as many ways as is humanly possible to maximize my savings and not spend a lot of time doing so, to maximize all my efforts. The only problem with the spending less time part is that no matter what, you have to spend some of your precious time.

Not so long ago (OK, like more than a decade) I was faced with the most terrifying moment of my life. I was a single mother overnight. Like most I am sure, this came out of no where and was completely unexpected. Child support – what is that? I was pretty young and very scared but I was confident that I was intelligent and strong enough to get through that, too. The one thing I knew had to change immediately, was ME. My X-husband had completely disappeared for that time. I didn’t even know how to contact him at first. So, I was left with the unwanted freedom to start over. I did.

Because my family lives in Georgia, I decided the best thing to do was to move closer to a safety net if I needed it. One of my very best friends helped me buy a car, pack it and hit the road. I drove the 20 hours by myself straight through because I was too scared to stop with a 9 month old in the back seat. My dad used to tell us scary rest stop stories so we wouldn’t wander when our family traveled. I guess they resonated at the time. I made it home just fine. The items I owned, besides my dog and my baby, I could count on one hand. I had about $50 left after the gas it took to get home. No savings. No post-high school education. Not even a suitcase for the few things I had. That was the gist of it. I was home, young, single, completely broke and had a mouth to feed.

Now, I didn’t tell you that story for sympathy or anything else. I told it so you would know, I understand hardship and struggle. I had a great upbringing but as a young stubborn adult (who knew everything) I landed on my ass! It hurt! A lot. That story was only the beginning of my fight. To this day that fight hasn’t ended. Why? Because I’m not richer than Bill Gates yet, duh!

I can’t tell you how to get rich. I can’t tell you how to make money. There are plenty of resources for both available online, in the library and in many other forms. Please take as much advantage as you can to use all of them. Back to the time thing. I find that through the years, as I go through many of these resources, I get a lot of information that I don’t need. What I don’t need and don’t want is almost always so readily available. The perfect example was a book I bought not so long ago recommended by a friend who said she felt so much better after reading it. As a person with an autoimmune disease, (story for a different kind of blog) I was very interested in the book since I had similar issues. Instead of finding anything I was looking for. I got the entire history of the doctor becoming a doctor and how he began to realize what was causing the problems. To get more to the “healing process”, I had to buy the next book. That to me is a gimmick. I don’t have money for those either. Besides, finding the next book for sale (which I will explain in a future post for avid readers) is highly unlikely at this time.

What I would like to do is help anyone I can, find ways to improve their spending habits and help them save a little more. I am a realist. I am not extreme. Have you seen the show Extreme Cheapskates? Some of the people are really disturbing on there! I am definitely not one of them. However, I rarely pay full price for anything. I apply many methods to make the most of what cash I have and use a couple of ways that work for me to squander away the rest. I am willing to give up most of my secrets if it helps make someone’s life a little easier. Stay tuned for my first official post to save money! I’m so excited!!!! Don’t hold your breathe while I am gone. hehe